It is frequently desirable to place computer executables into distinct groups. The groups may be defined by user login identifier(s), user classes (e.g., student, teacher, administrator, etc.), application name, and/or the like. Additionally, in a shared computing environment running multiple executables, it is often advantageous for computer managers to place a limit on resource utilization by executables based on the group classifications of the executables. The limitations can be used for program predictability, to maintain isolation between groups, capacity management, or to ensure that users only receive the service level to which they are entitled. In known computing systems such limitations are frequently encoded as “shares” (maximum shares of a limited resource) and are sometimes referred to as “caps.”
A number of technologies have been implemented to enforce share allocation schemes. However, known technologies impose significant overhead thereby reducing application performance. Moreover, known technologies cause additional reductions in performance upon certain combinations of applications within respective groups. For example, using known capping technologies, it is possible that a single executable of a group may consume all of the resources (e.g., processor cycles) assigned to the group before another executable of the same group has an opportunity to access the resource. The other executables of the same group may then not have an opportunity to obtain processor resources for several minutes.